I watched The Apprentice last night through gritted teeth. From the outset, when the teams were allocated the task and picked their project managers, it was quite apparent that neither had a good leader.
They were tasked with selling coach trips to tourists wanting a day trip outside London. The first thing that stood out was that both teams had pulled the price point out of a hat with no thoughts of costing – pricing being a fundamental basis of all business.
Team Tenacity decided on a deluxe tour to Blenheim Palace, with leader Daniel claiming that he would “outsell and outclass” the competition with a ticket price of £99.50. Team Summit, headed by Sanjay, chose a historical theme based around Henry VIII in Kent with tickets costing £60. At such a low price, I was already concerned about how this would even cover costs and make a profit.
Each team split into two with one half selling tickets for the tour while the other negotiated ticket entry for the attractions that formed part of their respective tours. James “Del Boy” Hill went in hard, asking for an 80% discount, which of course he didn’t get. However, on the other team, Mark negotiated a great rate of £9.50 for Blenheim Palace – a big discount from the usual £21.50 entry price. Team Tenacity really impressed me with their negotiation skills.
For both teams, ticket sales were a different story altogether. Team Tenacity’s brilliant sales skills enabled them to sell 20 tickets – some at full price and the rest for a discounted price of £65, which quite frankly they could have got more for. Sanjay’s sales team sold their last nine tickets at a discounted rate of £40, leaving them little room for any profit. With profit being the key to winning the task, this certainly didn’t bode well.
There were plenty of issues with the coach trip itself. If you book an expensive tour, you expect high quality. With a budget of £2.10 per person for lunch and an extra charge for drinks, this was certainly not a luxury tour. This was an area the team should have invested more effort and finance in. Felipe’s tour guide skills were not as brilliant as Lauren’s, but he did look the part with his boater hat and jacket.
This episode identified two key issues across both teams – leadership and pricing. Team Tenacity ultimately won the task by generating most profit, but Daniel failed to gain the respect of his team. He even admitted that he wasn’t there to make friends, rather just to win the task. Team Summit also suffered from poor leadership, but their main issue was the pricing strategy and James not taking anything seriously.
Like James, I can be the class clown, but I know when and where this is appropriate and never cross the line. You can have fun in business – and I certainly do every day – but you have to be taken seriously. Project manager Sanjay showed a complete lack of basic finance skills, which is ironic coming from a senior manager in banking. As Lord Sugar said to Sanjay: “If Anne Boleyn’s neck had been as thick as you, she might still have been alive.”
Naomi Timperley is co-director of social enterprise consultancy 4hub, social network Youth Sector Connect, and social community group My Big Social Idea. She is also a business mentor, speaker and Dragons’ Den survivor.
Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox.
